Sept. 18 (Bloomberg) -- A scrap of papyrus dated to the
fourth century has written on it in the ancient Coptic language,
“Jesus said to them, my wife,” reopening the debate about
whether Jesus was married, as some early Christians believed.

The words on the honey-colored fragment are the first to
show Jesus referring to a wife, according to Karen King, a
professor of divinity at Harvard Divinity School in Cambridge,
Massachusetts, who presented the finding today at the
International Congress of Coptic Studies in Rome. The writing in
black ink is in the language of Egyptian Christians, on a
fragment of about 1.5 by 3 inches (4 by 8 centimeters).

The fragment likely is authentic, based on the papyrus and
handwriting, Roger Bagnall, director of the Institute for the
Study of the Ancient World in New York said in a statement from
Harvard. Early Christians didn’t agree about whether they should
marry or remain celibate, and the earliest claim Jesus didn’t
marry is from 200 A.D., King said.

“One of the things we do know is that very rarely in
ancient literature was the marital status of men discussed,”
King said in a conference call with reporters. “Silence in
marital status is normal.”

Only women were identified in terms of family
relationships, as someone’s sister, mother, or wife, King said.
The question of whether Jesus married came up later when people
wanted to use him as a model for their lives, she said.

Family Talk

Though the Christian religion is sometimes referred to as
Jesus’ bride in scriptural interpretation, the other words
around “my wife,” including references to his mother and
someone named Mary, suggest he is talking about family. It isn’t
clear in the fragment whether Mary refers to his mother or his
wife, King said.

King declined to name the owner of the papyrus fragment in
the Harvard statement. The fragment belonged to a scripture
dubbed “Gospel of Jesus’s Wife” by King for reference, and was
probably originally written in Greek and translated into Coptic
for the local Christians.

One side of the papyrus has eight lines of writing, and the
other is damaged, with only three words and a few letters
visible even with computer enhancement. The fragment’s poor
condition suggests it was found in a garbage heap, according to
another religion professor, AnneMarie Luijendijk of Princeton
University in New Jersey. Fragments are also found in burial
sites, though those papyri usually are in better condition.

Marriage Unknown

In the draft of their paper, King and Luijendijk say that
the fragment doesn’t provide evidence that Jesus was married,
since it was probably originally composed in “in the second
half of the second century.” Nor is there any evidence that if
Jesus was married, it was to Mary Magdalene, according to the
paper.

“I do not think Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene,”
King said in the call. “Whether or not he was married, I don’t
know.”

The owner of the papyrus contacted King by e-mail, asking
her to translate the fragment; when she agreed, the owner
delivered the papyrus by hand to Harvard Divinity School in
December 2011. An analysis showed the pen used by the ancient
scribe was probably blunt, as the handwriting is legible, if
clumsy.